February 03

NEWS NOTES
FEBRUARY 2003

* Last week ECAAR was contacted by the Arsenault Family Foundation and asked to prepare a "Statement by US Economists on Iraq." The statement has been drafted by Lucy Webster, with the help of James Galbraith, Maurice Arsenault, and several other board members and staff. We are currently seeking signatures and donations to help circulate the petition. You can read and sign on to the statement at http://www.ecaar.org/Iraq.htm.

*The Arsenault Family Foundation has also made a challenge grant. If the project is successful in securing the signatures and demonstrating support (over the next week) the Arsenault Family Foundation will fund ECAAR up to an additional $20,000 in a 1:4 matching grant. These potential funds would support getting the message into the media. Thus, they will help ECAAR create a $100,000 "war peace chest" from other donors who fear the economic costs of a war and support ECAAR's message.

You can make a secure, online contribution to the ECAAR "peace chest" by following this link: https://www.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal196/contribute.asp.

**CALL FOR PAPERS** for the ECAAR sessions at the 2004 ASSA/AEA meetings in San Diego, January 3-5.

ECAAR solicits suggestions for papers to be presented at the two ECAAR sessions at next year's ASSA meetings, to be held in San Diego California. The themes for the two sessions are: "Toward Real Homeland Security" and "The Experience of Peacekeeping and Peacemaking." ECAAR members with specific expertise in these fields are cordially invited to submit paper proposals, which may be routed to Lucy Webster at <mailto:lucywebster@ecaar.org> and should be submitted by May 1, 2003. The sessions will combine invited and contributed papers. Contributions that cannot be accommodated at the regular sessions may be asked to prepare a poster for a poster session.

* Dutch/Flemish ECAAR Announces Topic for 2003 Isaac Roet Essay Competition.
Open to university students worldwide.
Topic: "The Distribution of Wealth and Income: A Question of War and Peace?"
Maximum length: 10,000 words.
Deadline: Postmarked by November 1, 2003.
Prize: up to 5,000 Euros.
For more information, visit http://www.ecaar.org/Events/Roet_Prize/Roet_Prize_Rules.pdf.

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*PUBLICATIONS*

- The ECAAR Review 2003. This year's edition is titled "Conflict or Development?" and has a regional focus on Africa, the site of most of the world's current armed conflicts. In its pages some of the leading economists of the day analyze and reflect on the relationships among military spending, domestic and foreign policy, security, and human welfare. Features include country studies and sections on business and conflict and "Trends in World Military Expenditure." Written in clear English, with informative maps, tables, and graphs, the series is designed to inform the debate among policymakers, activists, journalists, academics, students, and citizens worldwide.

*You can order the Review at http://www.ecaar.org/Review_files/order.htm

*We believe the Review can be a valuable teaching tool in economics, political science, and international relations courses. If you are interested in teaching this book, please contact Kate Cell (Katecell@ecaar.org) for a copy to review.

- "The Full Cost of Ballistic Missile Defense." The study estimates the total life-cycle cost for a layered missile defense system could reach $1.2 trillion by 2035.
*You can order a copy of the report from the http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/nmd/fullcost.html co-sponsor of the study, or download a PDF file from http://www.ecaar.org/index.htm.

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*ACTION CORNER*

- Oxfam America is organizing an email campaign to ask the question, "What about the Iraqi people?" Their website has a statement about the severe humanitarian crisis faced by the people of Iraq if there is a war. You can email President Bush from this webpage, http://ga0.org/campaign/iraq/36gun749783nn8

* You can also email Congressional representatives to support legislation designed to help end "conflict diamonds" (see article in the ECAAR Review 2003) at http://ga0.org/campaign/diamonds2 , another Oxfam issue page.

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We would like News Notes to be a way for ECAAR members and our community to keep in touch. In future issues we will include, if you send them to us, notices on events and publications that you are involved with.
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*UPCOMING EVENTS*

- Wednesday, February 26th, 2003: the Center for Defense Information and Physicians for Social Responsibility are sponsoring a conference on "U.S. Nuclear Policy and Counterproliferation," in Washington, DC. For more information check out: http://www.cdi.org/

- April 1, 2003: ECAAR's Spring Fundraiser, an evening with Joseph Stiglitz.
The suggested donation is $500.

- April 7 & 8, 2003: The Second Annual Green Trading Summit, "Emissions, Renewables & Megawatts" in New York City. http://www.greentradingsummit.com

- June 5-10, 2003: "The Changing Nature of Peace and War" Summer Symposium, hosted by Women in International Security. Washington, DC. http://www.idealist.org/events/74966/82617

- June 26th to 28, 2003: the Seventh Annual International Conference on Economics and Security, at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, sponsored by ECAAR-UK. http://carecon.org.uk/Conferences/Conf2003/CONF2003.html.